Pierre Kalulu is not too happy with the situation he has found himself in heading into the 2023-24 season but he has been given a chance to win his spot back.
La Gazzetta dello Sport report how Kalulu finds himself with a starting spot in the most important match of the Autumn fixture list as Fikayo Tomori’s suspension will rule him out of the derby against Inter.
When he started playing in a centre-back pairing with Tomori, after coming from Lyon where he had never made his professional debut, Kalulu was the emblem of imperturbability.
He and the Englishman were the bedrock of a side that kept nine clean sheets in the last 11 league games – conceding only twice – to help the Rossoneri end their title drought.
Last season there were a few more cracks in the armoury though, so much so that the Frenchman lost his starting position to the benefit of Thiaw.
The paper claims that they have heard Kalulu who is not too happy with the current situation – and who would be, starting from the second row – but Milan who never wanted to consider the possibility of getting rid of him.
Some offers arrived in the summer but Pierre has a particular value, because he can also play full-back as well as centre-back, and thus the idea of him leaving in the summer was never a serious one.
I think he should start instead of Tomori. Tomori has been very inconsistent and he is very mediocre with the ball. With Kalulu the ball circulation improves significantly and I don’t think he is worst defensively.
Agree. Even though Tomori is beast when he has his focus on, but he still tends to make silly mistakes. Maybe that’s why Southgate had been reluctant to call him up to England team, until again just now (and Tomori quite ruined the precious moment by getting red card on last league match before international game). Although if seeing the fact that Lord Maguire always got called up, I can’t understand Southgate’s standard anyway.
Honestly, he should be starting at RB over Calabria. Calabria can’t handle anyone 1v1.
Not even Kvaratkhelia last year, right…
krunic was helping him all game long … it wasnt 1 v 1
No defender handled kvaraskhelia as well last season as calabria did in the 3 of the 4 matches we played against napoli last season.
Lets start Calabria against Kvara and start Kalulu against anyone else.
I have no issues with either of them but calabria has been one of the most consistently well performing backs in serie a for years but still is not always appreciated by the fans a bit like abate always was lambasted.
but calabria is a football god compared to Abate.. That dude had one, two is pushing it, good season in 10 years at Milan
Even abate was one year the rb with most assistst in serie a. Personally i liked abate and even at some point barca tried to aquirre him so he wasnt as bad as sometimes made to look.
lol that was that good season. When he and Honda were killing it on the right side.. A spot of light in them dark times 😀
sure but regardless of him playing for the club during the banter years doesnt really change that i did like the player and the same goes for calabria.
“ I have no issues with either of them but calabria has been one of the most consistently well performing backs in serie a for years but still is not always appreciated by the fans a bit like abate always was lambasted.”
I wouldn’t go that far Martin – “one of the most consistently performing backs in Serie A for years…” hardly. Yes he had a few great games vs Karva but that also has to be weighed against the bad games he has had against others and his limited offensive abilities. I like Calabria and to me he is the perfect backup and occasional starter – but I would like to see Kalulu get more time at RB esp if it prevents him from leaving even if at Calabiras expense.
I do agree that he may be a bit under appreciated as he is a warrior just w limited abilities. Pls don’t I surly the man and compare him with Abate tho lol. Calabria deserves better than that 😂
I honestly think it’s all for not anyways – we will sell either Tomori or Kalulu next summer – likely Kalulu as it would be pure profit and esp if he wants to start. So not sure we need to worry about this anyways.
i compare them to the fact that they are under appreciated and yes i do think he has been one of the most consistenly well performing rb’s for several years in serie a.
In the end even though we disagree about some things i can understand your assements in regard of not losing kalulu but i deffently wouldnt sacrifice calabria either.
Seriously? Go watch the games again. He was double teamed at all times. Milan always had someone to the inside, mostly Krunic or one of the other CB’s. And Calabria still got beaten to the outside a few times. One time Kvara put one just over the post and another time Maignan made a nice save on him. Calabria can’t defend and that’s a problem.
i did say “3 of the 4 matches” and that is indeed because he also had a fairly bad game in the 1 of 4 meetings, the remaining ones he did great though.
“Calabria can’t defend and that’s a problem.”
LOL. Such statements make people look stupid and not understand the game. He’s a top3-RB in 1vs1 situations in the whole league and probably even the best. Fail to see that… Well it just says more about the speaker than Calabria.
Guess he better prove he deserves the starting spot against Inter, huh….
he should start over calabria ! im not sure what pioli sees in calabria beside his nationality!
Kalulu should be given a chance as DM. He has vert good passing but his positioning as a defender is sometimes questionable. He would do great in the position Krunic is playing.
So know we’re on a Calabria hate train. Aside from not being very athletic he’s one of the most consistent RB in the league. His marking leaves something to be desired but his open field tackling is top class. With how comfortable Calabria looks on the ball as an inverted fullback the only thing Kalulu has over him is athleticism.
People who say Calabria can’t defend are only making themselves look stupid. Sure, he makes mistakes in positioning himself sometimes but on 1vs1 he’s in the top3 of RBs in the league. And Kalulu? He makes even more blatant mistakes in every match and is worse in 1vs1.
i see calabria as having adjusted really well to the inverted position to the point where he looks very comfortable in the midfield yet is always back in time to the wing when the ball is turned over. That said, he is not nearly quick enough on 1 on 1 defense to stop elite attackers…
Kalulu as a DM🤣🤣🤣…
THIS SHOWS WHAT KIND OF IDIOTS WE HAVE HERE… I think some of us ,should go and comment on an ICE HOCKEY game 😂😂🏃🏾♂️